Insulating runner member for trolley section insulators



R. P. HANNA 2,416,174

INSULATING RUNNER MEEIEER FOR TROLLEY SECTION INSULATORS Feb. 18, 1947.

Filed Nov. 6, 1943 Patented Feb. 18, 1947 INSULATING RUNNER MEMBER FGR TROLLEY SECTION IN SULATQRS Raymond P. Hanna, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application November 6, 1943, Serial No. 509,248

4 Claims.

My invention relates, generally, to trolley conductor devices and it has reference in particular to insulated runner members for trolley conductor devices.

Generally stated, it is an object of my invention to provide an improved insulated runner member for trolley conductor devices which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and is durable in operation.

More specifically, it is an object of my invention to provide for increasing the operating life of insulated runner members by utilizing a fibrous construction with at least a portion of the fibers perpendicular to the Wear surface.

It is also an object of my invention to provide an insulated runner member having a plurality of layers of fibrous material bonded together With the fibers of at least a portion of the layers perpendicular to the wear surface of the member.

Another object of my invention is to provide for increasing the operating life of insulated runner members by utilizing plywood having the grain in different laminations thereof parallel and perpendicular, respectively, to the wear surface of the member.

A further object of my invention is to provide for increasing the wear resistance of insulated runner members for trolley conductor devices by impregnating them with Weather and flame resistant impregnants.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a laminated insulated runner member having a body member of a fibrous material impregnated with a material producing a protective gas when the member is subjected to the heat of an electric arc.

Other objects will in part be obvious, and will in part be explained hereinafter.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of my invention an improved insulated runner member having a wear surface along one edge for guiding a current collector may be provided for section insulators in trolley conductor systems by making the runner member from plywood or the like having the grain in alternate layers perpendicular or endwise to the longitudinal wear surface of the member. The member is impregnated with linseed oil and a flame resistant material such as boric acid, and is provided with additional protection against weathering in the form of a coat of paint.

For a more complete understanding of the nature and scope of my invention reference may be made to the following detailed description which may be read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a section insulator embodying the invention in one of its forms;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the insulated runner member used with the section insulator of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line IIIIII of Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. 1 the reference numeral til may denote, generally, a trolley conductor device such as a section insulator. The section insulator may comprise, generally, any suitable construction such as is described in detail in my copending application Serial No. 388,584, filed April 15, 1941 and entitled Insulator devices. For example, the section insulator may comprise spaced end castings H and I2 for attachment to other trolley conductor devices and to a trolley conductor, respectively. The end members may be connected by means of an insulating tension member [3 adjacent the lower ends and an insulating compression member l4 adjacent the upper end. An insulated runner member l5 having a wear surface I6 along the lower side for guiding a current collector may be positioned beneath the tension member 53 by means of saddle retaining members I! so as to provide an insulating wear surface for guiding a current collector.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3 it will be seen that the insulated runner member l5 may comprise a member having a plurality of layers [8 and i9 of fibrous material such as Wood. The layers l8 and I9 may be bonded together to provide an integral body member by means of any suitable bonding material, such as for example, a phenolic resin. In order to increase the wear resistance of the wear surface l6 of the runner member the layers I8 and I9 are preferably positioned with the grains thereof at right angles to each other. For example, in the layers 18 the grain may lie vertically, or substantially perpendicular to the wear surface IQ of the member along the lower edge, whereas the grain of the layers l9 may lie longitudinally, or substantially parallel to the Wear surface. By thus arranging the layers so that the grain in at least a portion of them is substantially perpendicular to the wear surface a remarkable increase in the operating life of the runner members may be attained.

In order to further increase the operating life of the insulating runner member it may be impregnated with a weather resistant material such as linseed oil and provided with an additional protection in the form of a coat of weatherproof paint. Further increase in the operating life of the runner member may be secured by impregnating the runner member with a material which will form a flame repellent or flame resistant gas when subjected to the heat of an electric arc drawn by a passing current collector. In this respect boric acid, chlorinated compounds such as Aroclor (a chlorinated biphenyl) and phosphates may be used. When the runner member is thus treated the gaseous film produced by the heat of the arc protects the body member against direct contact with the are thus increasing greatly its operating life.

By utilizing fibrous materials in the manner hereinbefore described a remarkable increase in the operating life of insulating runner members for trolley conductor devices has been secured particularly where from about 50% to 75% of the fibers are endwise to the Wear surface. Ihis increase is particularly noted when the runner member is made of impregnated fabric layers having the laminations perpendicular to the wear surface so that the current collector runs on the edges of the fibers. The operating life of such runner members is on the order from 2 to 3 times the operating life of molded runner members which have the laminations running longitudinally or parallel to the Wear surface. In view of the fact that the molded runner members had operating lives greatly in excess of the wood and fiber runners ordinarily used, these results are accordingly very good.

Since certain changes may be made in the above description and difierent embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the scope or spirit thereof, it is intended that all the matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be considered as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense.

I claim as my invention:

1. An insulating runner member comprising, a member of plywood having a plurality of bonded layers with a wear surface along one edge for guiding a current collector device, and having the grain in at least one of the layers perpendicular to the wear surface.

2. An insulating runner member comprising, a member having a Wear surface along one edge for engagement by a current collector and comprising a plurality of layers of wood bonded by a phenolic resin, the grain in alternate layers be ing parallel to and perpendicular to the wear surface, respectively.

3. An insulating runner member for a trolley device comprising, a member of plywood having a wear surface along one edge for guiding a current collector with the grain in alternate layers perpendicular to the Wear surface, said body member being impregnated with a material producing a gas when subjected to an electric arc.

4. An insulating runner member comprising, a member of plywood having a wear surface along one edge for guiding a current collector with the grain in alternate layers perpendicular to the wear surface, said body member being impregnated with a chlorinated impregnant to resist destructive arcing by a current collector traversing the Wear surface.

RAYMOND P. HANNA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,506,777 Schaake Sept. 2, 1924 1,773,192 Matthes Aug. 19, 1930 2,221,582 Hanna Nov. 12, 1940 2,324,993 Kubaugh July 20, 1943 

